Bud Wilkinson's Oklahoma Teams Instilled Fear in Opponents

Published on August 26th, 2023 3:31 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


The longest winning streak in the history of college football is held by Oklahoma, who won 47 straight regular season games between 1953 and 1957.

Nobody has come even close to matching this mark since - both USC and Miami managed to put together 30 game winning streaks, though that was still a far cry from Oklahoma's unbelievable streak.

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During this 47 game winning streak, Oklahoma won two national titles, cementing Bud Wilkinson's team as one of the greatest of all time.

The winning streak was impressive on its own - what made it even more impressive, however, is how badly Oklahoma bludgeoned its opponents.

During the streak, Oklahoma truly seemed unbeatable.

Oklahoma outscored their opponents by nearly 35 points per game during the streak, while being absolutely stingy on defense.

In fact, the Sooners held their opponents to single digits in 35 of the 47 games that comprised the winning streak, and they shut out their opponents 22 times.

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The winning streak started on October 10th, 1953, when the #16 ranked Oklahoma team defeated the #15 ranked team from Texas by a score of 19-14.

In 1954, Oklahoma continued to bludgeon its opponents, winning games by scores of 65-0, 40-0 and 55-7, just to name a few.

It was more of the same in 1955, as Oklahoma regularly put up 40+ points per game while holding their opponents to practically nothing.

The streak continued in 1956, as Oklahoma went a perfect 10-0, allowing their opponents to score just 50 points on the entire season.

The winning streak would end on November 16th, 1957, when Oklahoma lost 7-0 to Notre Dame at home.

The loss cost Oklahoma a chance at another national title, though they would run out the season with three more decisive wins.